This invention relates to braces for straightening trees and, in particular, to a brace that does not require a pole or stake for support and can be placed on a tree wherever a bend or other deformity needs to be straightened.
Young trees are typically staked to hold the trunk upright during early growth and to prevent a newly planted tree from blowing over in the wind. However, the stakes require continual adjustment and replacing as the soil loosens in response to a heavy rain and the tie lines between the stakes and the trunk either loosen in time or become too tight. Furthermore, the conventional approach is typically limited to applying a pulling force to the trunk in one or more directions because the lines tied to the stakes are flexible members in tension and thus can only pull the trunk toward the stake to which they are tied.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a tree brace which does not utilize a pole or stake set in the ground, and can be applied to the tree wherever needed to straighten an undesired bend in the trunk.
Another important object of the invention is to provide such a brace that is supported only by the tree and can both pull on the trunk and push against it in order to apply the necessary corrective forces.
Still another important object is to provide a tree brace that utilizes a turnbuckle device mounted in an essentially horizontal position and secured to the tree by flexible lines above and below the device so that proper corrective forces are applied and adjustment, as the tree responds to such forces, is easily accomplished by operating the turnbuckle.
Yet another important object is to provide a bracing structure that can be applied as needed to straighten multiple bends in the same tree, by the application of more than one tree brace as needed to straighten the bends.
Other objects will become apparent as the detailed description proceeds.